One less hour of sleep, always a lot of fun if you have a kid or pet who's firmly tied to a 24-hour schedule.
(photo from the JJ Sedelmaier Productions Collection, used with much appreciation)
- General construction noise
- Beeping from backup alarms on construction vehicles and equipment
- Flagging horns
March 2024 |
preconstruction rendering by Landon Bone Baker Architects |
It's been astounding how quickly the new building at 835 West Wilson has gone up. From ground-breaking in late 2022 to near completion now, it's been great fun to watch it take shape.
Stephens Commons, as it's known, is a 73-unit all-senior (62+), all-affordable residential rental building. There's no ground-floor retail (as is the norm on that stretch of Wilson) and the units are a mix of 10 studios, 49 one-bedrooms, and 14 two-bedrooms. There are amenities like a weight room, community room, outdoor deck, and a garden.
You can read more about it and fill out a rental application here.
a blast from the past |
Beginning Monday, March 4th, you can vote at any site in the city of Chicago (full list is here) up to and including Election Day, March 19th.
The ballot will give you options to vote for:
Nominations for:
Elections for:
The closest sites to Uptown are listed below. Again, you can vote at ANY early voting site, no matter in what ward you are registered to vote.
The sidewalks will be demolished and reconstructed on both sides of the street, One side will remain open at all times, and access to the businesses on West Argyle will be maintained at all times.
Work will go one Mondays through Saturdays, March 6 to March 20, between 7am and 7pm.
Local Impact:
There will be noise while work is being performed; noise will include:
When does a week run for 15 days? When there are too many nearby restaurants to explore to squeeze it all into just seven days.
North Side Restaurant Week begins on Friday, March 1st, and runs through Friday, March 15th. It features dozens of nearby restaurants in Uptown and surrounding areas. This is your chance to try the places you've been hearing about!
Eateries in Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Andersonville, Edgewater, North Center, Rogers Park, and Uptown will show off their wide range of dining options throughout the "week" with special prix fixe menus to enjoy.
Here are the participants located in Uptown:
Agami Contemporary Sushi, 4712 N Broadway.
Choose one signature Martini
- Lychee fizz (Vodka, Lychee liqueur, Prosecco)
- Agami (Gin, aloe vera juice)
- Rude Cosmo (Tequila Twist with Red Cranberry)
Choose One
- Vegetable gyoza
- Pork gyoza
Choose one (served with Miso soup or romaine salad with ginger dressing)
- Any one roll of Signature or special rolls
- 7 pieces nigiri or Sashimi (chef’s selection)
- Chicken Teriyaki (Grilled Chicken Breast served with sautéed seasonal vegetables)
Choose one
- Chocolate lava cake
- Mango Mochi Ice cream
- Green tea Mochi Ice Cream
Choose one
- edamame
- vegetable or pork Gyoza
Choose one
- Tonkatsu Garlic Ramen (Pork Broth, twice-cooked pork belly, topped with assorted
- vegetables and soft boiled egg.
Choose any 2 rolls (California, spicy Tuna, Spicy Salmon, shrimp tempura, sweet potato with cream cheese)
Choose one
- Chocolate lava cake
- Mango Mochi Ice cream
- Green tea Mochi Ice Cream
Bar Roma, 5101 N Clark. 4 courses, $48.
Danang Kitchen, 1019 W Argyle.
- Mi Quang Signature Noodle. Savory Pork-based broth and Quail Eggs; choice of 2 Proteins [Pork, Shrimp, or Chicken]
- Green Papaya Salad topped with Shrimp, Beef Jerky, Basil, Fried Shallots, Toasted Almonds, and House Dressing.
- Custard Coffee.
- Vegetarian Pho. Vegetable and Fruit-based Soup, Enoki Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, Fried Tofu, Soy-based Imitation Meat.
- Vegetable Potstickers
- Corn Pudding
Fat Cat, 4840 N Broadway:
- Old Fashioned - Old Grand-Dad Bonded, cherry bitters, orange, burnt sugar, Amaro Lucano & wild morello cherry
- Hot Mess Burger - Two 4oz all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, swiss and cheddar cheese, and pickles on a sesame seed bun.
- Warm Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts with Chocolate Ganache - Fun size
- Espresso Martini - Caffe Borghetti, Giffard’s Vanille de Madagascar, Irish Cream, burnt sugar syrup.
- Reuben Balls - Corned beef, swiss bechamel and kraut, dusted with marble rye bread crumbs and then fried to crispy perfection. Featured on "Chicago's Best," served with our signature 999 island dressing.- Fun Size
- Chicken Pot Pie - Roast chicken, vegetables, savory cream sauce, flaky puff pastry
Fiesta Mexicana, 4808 N Broadway. $38 per person, plus tax & 18% service charge
- Guacamole & Chips, served with crispy corn tortilla chips
- Queso Fundido, a delicious blend of baked Chihuahua cheese and chorizo. Served with warm Flour tortillas.
- Chicken Fajitas or Steak Fajitas Served with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and your choice of corn or flour tortillas.
- Chicken Enchiladas (2). Rolled corn tortillas with your choice of protein baked with Chihuahua cheese; topped with our Ranchero, Tomatillo or Mole Salsa.
- Guisado de Puerco en Chile Colorado. Pork tenderloins simmered in chile guajillo salsa. Served with Spanish rice, refried beans and your choice of corn or flour tortillas.
- Flan de Vainilla. Mexican caramel custard
- Fried Ice Cream. Ice cream with crispy flakes. Topped with syrup, cinnamon and whipped cream.
Hai Yen, 1055 W Argyle.
Hon Kee, 5009 N Winthrop. 3 Course Pekin Duck Meal: $54
Honeymoon Café, 1138 W Argyle.
Immm Thai, 4949 N Broadway. $30/person not inclusive of tax and tip
Kie Gol Lanee, 5004 N Sheridan. $50 per person, tax and gratuity not included
- Tlayudas. Traditional Oaxacan dish, 10-inch homemade corn tortilla topped with black beans, cheese, cabbage, tomato, red onion, avocado & choice of meat or vegetables:
- Arrachera (skirt steak)
- Cecina (thinly sliced, spiced beef)
- Chorizo (Mexican sausage)
- Vegetariana (zucchini & mushrooms)
- Enchiladas de Pollo, Three mole chicken enchiladas in a skillet with Oaxacan cheese, sour cream, guacamole served with rice
- Chuletas de Puerco. Pork chops stuffed with Oaxacan cheese, chorizo over grilled onions served with rice, black beans and purslane
- Bacalao Blanco en Hojas de Platano. Cod in plantain leaf with pumpkin seed sauce, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cilantro, onion served with rice
- Tacos. Three tacos served with rice or refried beans:
- Arrachera (skirt steak with onion and cilantro)
- Al Pastor (marinated pork, onion, cilantro, radish)
- Vegetarianos (roasted mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, avocado, fresh cheese, onion & lettuce)
- House Margarita. Homemade with fresh fruit, no artificial syrups. Traditional lime, tamarindo, or strawberry with choice of house tequila or mezcal
- Wine. Glass of house red or white wine,
- Fruta & Crema. Apples, raisins, pecans and honey with Oaxacan sour cream.
- Flan Vainilla. Homemade vanilla Nicuatole de Temporada, a traditional gelatinous dessert from Oaxaca, made with corn, sugar, cinnamon and milk
- Pastel de Calabaza. Zucchini cake, caramel sauce, powdered sugar & whipped cream
- Tres Leches. Our signature homemade three-milks cake topped with seasonal fresh fruit and whipped cream
Marina's Bistro & Rum Bar, 4554 N Magnolia. Three Courses - $45 per person. (Includes One Cocktail or Mocktail)
- Queso Frito (V, GF) fried cheese with tamarind sauce, OR
- Hummus de Gandules (V, GF) served with plantain chips, OR
- Pastelillos de Carne beef-filled empanada with avocado aioli
- Tripleta Sandwich (with arroz con gandules) pork, ham, steak, crispy papitas, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion, mustard, OR
- Pollo Al Ajillo (GF) (with majado de malanga) garlic chicken thighs with mashed root vegetable, OR
- Jibarito Vegano (VG, GF) (with arroz con gandules) marinated portobello mushroom, lettuce, tomato, onion, vegan guava butter, OR
- Mofongo (GF) (chicken, pork or mushroom) mixed yucca and plantain.
- Flan (V, GF) caramel custard, OR
- Budin de Pan (V) bread pudding with ice cream
Miss Saigon, 1129 W Argyle. $30/person. Choose one from each category:
Pho 777, 1104 W Argyle. $35/person. Choose one from each category:
Rakkan Ramen, 4926 N Broadway, $35/person. Choose one from each category:
*Garnet can be vegan
The Reservoir, 844 W Montrose, 3 Course Menu, $50/person
Thai Pastry, 1113 W Argyle, $30/person. Pick one from each section:
To see what restaurants are participating in each of the other five nearby neighborhoods, and their menus, click here.
Bon Appétit!
The Bachelor Apartments in 2016, after a massive renovation |
Tonight, two different sources have informed us that Cornerstone Community Outreach ended the purchase contract and abandoned efforts to purchase the Bachelor Apartments (1140 West Wilson) from Cedar St / FLATS. Cornerstone hoped to use COVID and TIF funds to buy the building and open a men's shelter. Local residents from the surrounding block clubs were strongly opposed to a fifth shelter in a several block radius.
The decision is undoubtedly linked to the Zoning Board of Appeals' failure to approve the proposal last week. Residents along with tenants in the building (including Uptown Church, 2Bears Tavern, and Downstate Donuts) initially asked for a delay, which Cornerstone opposed. Various opponents then testified in opposition, with the commercial businesses and church asserting their operations would be adversely affected and they would likely be forced to close.
Homelessness remains a problem and -- like its peer cities -- Chicago needs more and better options for its unhoused residents. We have consistently taken the position that Uptown has more than done its part to ensure affordable housing and services for the less fortunate, and this is yet another opportunity to ask that our surrounding Aldermen and Wards take some responsibility.
There are locations in the 44th 47th, and 48th Wards that would be more advantageous both for the existing community and the clients a shelter would serve, and we hope those Wards welcome a shelter in the near future.
With the weather bouncing between spring, summer, and storms (often in the same day), it's a great time to remember how lucky we are to have a certified arboretum right in the neighborhood that welcomes guests, walkers, and strollers -- for free!
After months of construction, the main entrance of Graceland Cemetery and Arboretum (Irving Park and Clark) has been completed and it's stunning. You can enter there, or at the Greenwood gate (on Clark between Cullom and Hutchinson).
Graceland describes itself as "An Oasis of Art, Architecture, and Landscape Design since 1860" and we couldn't agree more.
It's open seven days a week, and winter hours are currently in effect (the Greenwood gate is open from 8am-3:30pm, and the main entrance is open from 8am-4pm).
Take advantage of the (momentarily) sunny weather and soak up some natural Vitamin D.
Photo courtesy of Time Out Chicago |
Jim Bachor has chosen Uptown for his studio and gallery, right across from the Aragon.
A reader writes:
"Hey Uptown Update,
I was walking on Lawrence and saw this new business at 1111 W. Lawrence, across the street from the Aragon Ballroom.
He's the guy who does tilework over potholes. I walked in his gallery and was amazed. Anyway, here are 2 photos, along with a link to his website.
"Fat Miilk," a Vietnamese coffee company recently had their soft opening on Saturday, February 17 and judging by the line of coffee lovers, it was a success!
Coffee lovers waiting outside of Fat Miilk for their soft opening |
The location at 5018 N. Broadway remains under renovation but things are close. The location, last home to T'oui, is a perfect spot to watch the hustle and bustle of Broadway and Argyle, and we expect it will become a hangout for the immediate neighbors in the beautiful Flats complex to the north.
Since Cornerstone elected to place their operations under the microscope, tipsters have flooded the inbox with information about CCO and JPUSA. We are going to share a few with our readers.
One interesting tip takes us back to 2003, in the pre-UU days.
When Cornerstone got a special use permit that year, the community asked for certain mandatory requirements as part of the special use. If they didn't follow them, the special use would automatically be canceled.
However, consistent with how things happened under Helen Shiller, there was no process to monitor the requirements, and as our tipster wrote, CCO just ignored them.
One requirement, interestingly, was no men's shelter on the 4600 block of Clifton, exactly what CCO is attempting to do now.
Here's what ZBA spelled out back in 2003.
The same tipster shares a recent photo taken in front of St. Thomas (4827 N. Kenmore) where a sign from Cornerstone shows that while they are providing a service to our less fortunate neighbors, they are CLEARLY not following the special use permit on Clifton.
How can they do this? They can do it because they never faced oversight after they were granted their special use permit in 2003, and there were and are no repercussions for ignoring the special use restrictions.
"Men and Women Accepted." |
Interesting to note that another requirement of the special use permit is NO ONE USING DRUGS is allowed stay in the shelter.
We remembered that was previously an issue in "Blood Alley," and firing up the UU wayback-machine took us to this story from 2009 when a Cornerstone "security" guard was arrested for selling heroin to those living in the shelter.
So, as we await the next move from CCO / JPUSA and their supporters Angela Clay and Helen Shiller, we thought it might be nice to remind the community that there is no system in place to assure CCO's adherence to the requirements spelled out in a special use, and CCO just ignores the requirements once they are in place. And we can't expect, given our many years of Helen Shiller watching (and her associates too!), that the current Aldermanic office will do anything if CCO violates the terms of future agreements.
If you think ZBA should follow up with Cornerstone on why they can violate the existing zoning variance at 4615 N. Clifton, email them at ZBA@cityofchicago.org.
Maybe the Inspector General can focus on this issue too?
More to come.
1140 W. Wilson (Google) |
We've never seen this happen in our time watching ZBA, especially when an Alderperson puts their support behind something so adamantly. Longtime Helen Shiller partner Sam Toia was one of the "yes" votes.
Is this dead in the water? Will they change plans and resubmit again? Maybe they find a location in a neighboring ward with no shelters? Matt?
For now, our Wilson Avenue businesses and current residents of the building are safe.
Edit - sent by a reader, here's a great building CCO could buy in the 47th Ward and get twice the value!
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1713-W-Sunnyside-Ave-Chicago-IL/29843339/
With Shiller-mentum in the air, let's jump in the UU time machine and revisit what we said just over a year ago in surveying the Aldermanic race:
For her part, Ms. Clay has little track record and has bound herself closely to former Alderman Helen Shiller, who was on hand when Ms. Clay announced her candidacy. Ald. Shiller is effectively looking for someone to pass the baton. In our view, a vote for Ms. Clay is effectively a vote for Helen Shiller and her favorite organizations to regain power in the 46th Ward.
We have witnessed a neighborhood that has made tremendous strides in public safety and livability over the past 12 years under Alderman Cappleman. If you asked us what we expected to see in 2011 when he was sworn in for the first time, we were most hopeful for a change from a status quo that was willing to accept regular gang shootings and street crime as part of the "fabric" of the neighborhood. That change has happened, in large part, due to the work of police, the Alderman and his office, neighborhood groups, and Uptown's citizens, who have worked together to make Uptown a safe, clean and desirable location.
We started this blog in 2007 because we were sick of the way Uptown was in the thrall of special interests who had no interest in the neighborhood ever improving. The status quo (and worse) were acceptable, as was the loss of life and subhuman living conditions that accompanied it. We don't want to return to the way things were under Helen Shiller, which is what a vote for Ms. Clay (or Ms. Lalonde) would bring.
So here we are, a year later, and the prediction has come true. Call us NostradamUUs!
As the above photo (taken recently by a friend) illustrates, Helen Shiller is right behind Angela Clay, "counseling" Ms. Clay (who she has been grooming for years) and acting as shadow alderman. And in a brazen move straight out of her Wilson Yard and kitchen renovation playbook, she's trying to kill Uptown's decade-long renaissance by sticking a curfew free men's homeless shelter directly in the middle of the Wilson Avenue business district.
Oh, and she's using $4.5 million dollars in local taxpayer TIF funds, killing two businesses, and bolstering old supporters at JPUSA at the same time. A Shiller-Clay win-win-win-win!
From what we see and hear at the UU mothership, this is a VERY unpopular move, yet Alderwoman Clay seems unwilling to hear or consider the voices of the block clubs that surround the proposed shelter.
What can you do to share your opinion if you weren't able to make it to the ONE meeting that was held to discuss this? Email the Zoning Board of Appeals at ZBA@cityofchicago.org and be sure to mention the zoning change at 1140 W. Wilson. You can also sign a petition that is circulating here.
Don't just take it from us. Here's reader Ken's comment yesterday. Everything old is new again!
This sounds like Helen Schiller's way of doing things in 46th ward for over 20 years. I put up with it for 10 years (2005-2015) and that was enough. Everything happens magically under the table and decisions are discussed and made in secret, all the time. It's exhausting, but nothing ever changes.
As we have said repeatedly, elections have consequences. Hopefully the voter turn-out will be much higher in 2027 and this political move is remembered when Uptowners go to the voting booth. We won't forget!!!
Oh, and Alderwoman Clay? We know you're a reader. We still have questions you haven't answered. Pink ribbons come to mind.